Book Publishing: Who gets the money?

In traditional publishing, an author may earn, for example, a 10 percent royalty on sales, the agent gets 15 percent and the publisher keeps the rest. When an author receives an advance upfront, no royalties are paid until the publisher recoups that advance.

With self-publishing, the author deals directly with a printer and distributor, and produces a book at much lower cost than print-on-demand, perhaps $4.00 per book. At a selling price of $20, the author might gross $16 for each book sold. But then the distributor takes about 35 percent, warehousing and advertising costs vary but are unending. So the take-home, after managing the business of being a publisher, is still not grand.

Print-on-demand (POD) requires upfront payment to the printing firm, and they also take a percentage of each sale, to cover cost of the book, making it available to online retailers, and the POD firm processes and fulfills orders. Their fee also covers your presence on their web site, online catalog, and their profit. What's left for you depends on the firm and on your contract It is usually about 35 to 40 percent of the book's retail price, paid to you monthly or quarterly, on all sales, from the first copy sold.

You don't earn royalties on books that you purchase for resale, but you can buy them for about 50% off list price. So you have a low start-up cost, fast production and you earn back your cost from the very first book sold. Using POD, your book need never go out of print.

Ebooks cost almost nothing to make from an existing manuscript, and profits are upwards of 80 percent on each sale.

Isn't it time you release your writing?

Book marketing: Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Here are a few resources to help push your book along toward Spring. Market to keep your name visible, to share your work with readers, and to keep yourself motivated. .

authorbuzzz.com
authornation.com
booktour.com
dearreader.com
goodreads.com
published.com

The internet is your most effective marketing tactic. Use it well.

Write a chiamus

If you do no other writing today, challenge yourself with this

A chiamus is a sentence that mirrors itself. e.g.,

“Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”

“Success in not the key to happiness; happiness is the key to success.”

So, write one in the Comment section here if you're clever enough...

Thanks,
Helen Gallagher

If you write books for children... Part 2

Per my Jan. 14, 2009 post, here is a helpful update from SPAN (Small Publishers Assn. of North America) regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, and its decision to include children's books in the list of products requiring testing for lead.

First the date has been bumped from February to August:
"The most important issue that was clarified for the book
word was that the deadline for third party testing of
books is August 10, 2009 not February 10, as repeated
in the press (including information from SPAN).



After February 10 the printers need to provide "only" a
"general conformity certificate" (GCC) with every shipment
of a book title. The GCC can be either a paper copy or
available on a Web page. These certificates are provided
by the book manufacturer/printer.

And about books already on store shelves?

There have been questions about books on shelves and in
storage that were manufactured. General conformity
certificates are not required for these books, but retailers
are liable and could get fines and or imprisonment under
the Act if any of these products show illegal levels of lead.
This paradoxical situation is driving many retailers to require
certificates on books already produced. Again, check with
your distributors and retailers to find out what they need.

The SPAN website at www.spannet.org has more information.
And here's a link to a Publisher's Weekly article on the topic: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6631645.html

Purchase "Release Your Writing"

Sometimes the obvious is right in front of us, but impossible to see.

I had a nice note from a fellow who said he enjoyed "the depth" of my blog, but just went there to buy my book. He asked for a direct link to purchase. so ...

Release Your Writing at Amazon.com Amazon.com

Release Your Writing direct from the publisher

Release Your Writing autographed copies - Email Helen@releaseyourwriting.com

Thank you.

Presidential advice to writers

Doesn't this Pres. Obama quote resonate with us as writers, and with those desiring publication?

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some
other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the
change that we seek."

If your time and your writing are not taking you where you want to go, change something.

Books as Video

Think new media can ever replace books? I sure don't. Here is a two-minute video composed entirely of book images!

If you write books for children, you need to know this...

The Consumer Protection Safety Information Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires items sold
for children, manufactured after February 10, 2009 be tested and certified for lead levels by an independent lab.

It seems unbelievable, but that includes children's books!



A Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)letter, dated December 23, 2008, affirmed children's books are included in category of products that need to be tested for lead.

Products in inventory (in storage and on bookstore shelves) do not need to be tested, but retailers can be fined if the products are found to have excessive
levels of lead.

Testing and certification takes place at the book printer level. Publishers of children's books need to check with their printer if they have books in the
printing process.

You can contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission here:
www.cpsc.gov/about/contact.html

Author House * IUniverse * and now Xlibris

I guess we should be glad, in a tough economy, that print-on-demand (POD) firms are doing well. The three largest POD firms are now one.

Under its new name, Author Solutions, the conglomerate now boasts 100,000 titles.

Publishers Weekly reports that Keith Ogorek, Authors Solution spokesperson, said

"even with the recession, business remains strong, noting that November and December were the best months ever for the Author House, iUniverse and Xlibris brands."

If you're a POD author, our side of the publishing industry never looked better. If you currently have a book in the works with Xlibris, watch your contract for any change in terms, or move to a smaller POD firm if you don't want to get lost in the shuffle.

Selling your books on Amazon Kindle

If you want your books available on the Kindle ebook reader platform, you need to:
upload a PDF of your book on Amazon, and set the Kindle selling price. Ask your publisher for a PDF of the final book if you don't already have it.

Here's the hard-to-find link to the digital text platform upload area:
https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin.

Happy New Year ~ 2009

This blog has attracted over 4,500 readers in its first year. Thank you all for your interest. We're all happy to bid goodbye to a year full of sour news, bad weather and a sinking economy. Here's to a new President, a renewed hope in America, and good times in 2009 with friends, family, great books and movies to enrich our spirit.

Wherever you are, please remember to support your local economy. The merchants and stores support you with tax dollars, employ your neighbors, and invest in your community. Show your appreciation by supporting their business. And remember to support your fellow artists & authors in their endeavors. The entrepreneurial spirit thrives in America and around the world.

Read globally ~ Shop locally

Google Book Search

As you may be aware, Google created a book database, including generous excerpts of most author's works. On October 28, 2008 the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and Google announced the landmark settlement of Authors Guild v. Google.

If your books are available at google.com/books, you might want to go to the lawsuit settlement page, and fill in your contact information. That's how you'll be notified and compensated for any copyright infringement.


Read more about how the settlement works here.

Good excuse of the week...

This from Poynter.org:

The "best" of 2008's media errors and corrections


It's Regret the Error's annual round-up, with this year's "correction of the year" award going to Dave Barry for this explanation:

In yesterday's column about badminton, I misspelled the name of Guatemalan player Kevin Cordon. I apologize. In my defense, I want to note that in the same column I correctly spelled Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarak, Poompat Sapkulchananart and Porntip Buranapraseatsuk. So by the time I got to Kevin Cordon, my fingers were exhausted.

Ann Patchett essay in The Atlantic

EXCERPT:

"And then there’s this: if my house were burning down, the one thing I’d rush in to save would be my copy of The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, which I had signed at the first author reading I ever attended, the year that I was 16 and the author was 70. I could discourse endlessly on why my books are in no way improved by my signature, and my words are just the same on the page whether or not I’ve read them aloud. And while I know better than anyone that I am no Eudora Welty, I know how profoundly I was shaken to see her, how I felt that my book had been transformed by the touch of her hands."

--- Ann Patchett

The December 2008 Atlantic has an excellent essay by Ann Patchett on book tours.